Catching Up

I'm not sure an apology would be appropriate for such a dismal effort in maintaining this blog. While Olde and I have our reasons, none should have kept us from writing at least 5-10 a month. Hopefully Olde's latest blog, as well as this from me, will reinvigorate us and our faithful readers, too (unless you've already given up on us and no longer visit our site)!

Anyway, as Olde mentioned, he's had to deal with moving, looking for a new job, preparing for a baby, and being a housewife. His excuses are definitely legitimate. Mine, on the other hand, are not as valid. In fact, there is only one real reason that I've been slacking: I'm in love and my head's in the clouds (one of the one's that looks like a castle). I know it shouldn't prevent me from writing, but since I've met Sydney, we have gone a total of three days apart (not including my trip to Colorado). As you can imagine, blogging has not been a priority.

So, in what may be a feeble attempt at re-sparking the literary greatness that is Tales From the Stump, we continue forth. The following is a summary of what I've been up to the last few months....

- Despite being in Portland for 2.5 years now, I've only been to the Oregon coast a couple of times. A couple months ago, I made my third trip. Syd and I went to Cannon Beach, where we did our best to find Chester Copperpot and One-Eyed Willy. We never found them, nor the Goonies, but we did have a good time chomping on some Dorittos, drinking wine, tossing the football around, and snuggling under a blanket. The only negative to this trip was our less-than-fulfilling dinner at Mo's. We were both in the mood for seafood, and fish and chips in particular. What we got at Mo's were perfectly cut, rectangular frozen fish sticks. It was quite disappointing.

- We've made a couple trips to Amboy recently. While the first trip was to introduce Syd Vicious to the folks, the trips have also served to clear our heads a bit and get some fresh air. In the process, Syd was able to witness an open mic at the Amboy museum; multiple nasty dogs from Wimpy; retarded roosters that cockle-doodle-doo at all hours of the day and night; Mike rant and rave about preverts; thousands of frogs having an orgy; and the daily coffee shop gossip session, where all the regulars meet downtown for espresso and the day's newest rumors.

- My best friend, Matt (aka Mixle, aka Cock Slinga), visited the Stump with his girlfriend, Tiffany. The four of us did the couples thing for much of the weekend, as we showed them around Portland trying to convince them to move up here. On the night they arrived, the four of us went to Dug Fir, where we caught up with some drinks by the fire. The next day we walked around the Pearl District, eventually settling in at Jameson Square where we watched Matt show off his parkour skills (this was one of the themes to their trip...Matt free ran all over the place. If you don't know what parkour or free running is, peep it on youtube. In short, it involves running up buildings, jumping and climbing over things, and doing flips.). While they were here, we also played some Scattegories at a park where Matt entertained us with his answers (apparently the word "mail" is a four-letter word that begins with "s." Also, in case you didn't know, mail is something you distribute). Anyway, they talked about moving up here, which gives me an instant hard-on thinking about.

- Also that weekend, H-Block was reunited as another old friend flew in to the Stump. Yes yes, y'all, Tony the Armenian was in town (leaving only Ophir as the missing H-Block link). This time, however, he spared Portland his shenanigans and left no blood or police reports in his trail. We did all get together a couple nights, though, and shared drinks while talking about old memories. He was kind enough to let Old borrow his burglars mask for the night, as you can see in the picture here. If you know Tony, it wouldn't even occur to ask why he had a burglar's mask...that's just how he gets down.

-Syd and I recently bonded with some 40s. Well, I had a 40, Syd held it down with some 22s of Steele Reserve (no, not technically a 40, but she proved she can definitely get down with some malt liquor). Naturally, we got hyphy to some Bay Area slumpers, played some cards, danced, fought, laughed, and told some of our less than proud memories from our high school years. While bumpin' the Yay Area slumpers, Syd got hyphy, went dumb, and did the gig. It was quite entertaining to see.

- Recently went to Cirque du Soleil. Syd and I got to see Corteo underneath the big-top, capping off a date night that also involved some bomb Italian at Iorio (while the food was good, the wait staff wouldn't leave us alone, as they constantly asked us how we were doing or if we needed anything. Their constant harassment caused me to lose focus, and I forgot to bring with me the bottle of wine that we bought). The main event was sicketating, though. The performance included acrobats, midgets, tumblers, and, from what I gathered from their magical ability to fly, gypsies. 'Twas a grand night, indeed...brilliant even.

In all, the last few months have been pretty fun and eventful. I'm sorry I haven't shared much in print, but I'll do my best to keep you all posted on happenings here in the Stump. After all...it is almost summer, which means Olde will soon break out his bike and boombox, 40s will be consumed at a higher frequency, and the sun will give us some much needed energy. It won't be long before you are all once again inundated with tales from the stump.